C II. Merriaiii — liinls nf CuunrtliKt. (J9 



taken ptisscssioii ami layi'<l two eggs. \\\'tlK'ii \\v\\{ td \\\v oM Owl's 

 nest, whiMV we had tVniinl young in IStiO and It^To, and Inimd lluold 

 bird on. This nest now eonlained two ejigs in wliieli the yoini*'- were 

 well advaneed — so the old birds must have hiid again soon alter the 

 first nest was robbed. 



^ "About the first of IMareh, 187;J, we again visited the same place 

 but could not find the birds, though I noticed one of their feathers, 

 and, since snow had fallen a day or two before, I know they could not 

 be far oft. Finally, on the 13tli of jMarch, I found them occupying a 

 nest about two miles from the old place. It was the old nest of a 

 Red-tailed Hawk from which I took three eggs April 29th, 1872. The 

 nest now^ contained one young Owl, apparently about five or six days 

 old, and one rotten Q^g. I think the egg had been frozen, for it was 

 badly cracked. I am, of course, unable to say whether or no all the 

 eggs above mentioned wei'e deposited by the same j)air of Owls, since 

 three or four old birds have been killed in this vicinity. However, I 

 am quite sure that they all belonged to the same family. I also took 

 their nests in 1874 (Feb. 28), 1875 (took young in May), 1876 (Feb. 

 22), and 1877 (took eggs twice, Feb. 19 and Mar. 23). During the 

 whole time I have known of them they have not built a new nest, 

 but have either occupied the same one for at least three years, or 

 taken some vacant Hawk's nest. 



"To sum up: my experience with Great Horned Owls has been 

 that they lay in old nests of. Red-tailed Hawks, in hollow trees, and 

 occasionally in ledges of rocks. I never knew^ them to build a nest, 

 or to lay more than two eggs, and I have known of many nests not 

 mentioned above." 



146. Scops asio (Linae) Bonaparte. Mottled Owl ; Screech Owl. 



A common resident throughout the State. It lays five eggs, in a 

 hollow tree, about the last of April. This is, I think, the most 

 nocturnal of our Owls. At least it can generally be approached in 

 broad daydight more easily than the other species, and seems to be 

 dazzled by the light. It sometimes catches fish through a hoK' in 

 the ice, like the Snowy Owl.* 



147. OtUS vulgaris, var. WilSOnianuS (Lesson) Allen. Long-eared 

 * Owl. 



A common resident. Its large nest is comnioidy placed on some 



thick tree— generally a pine— but sometimes in low bushes. It is 



* Bull. Nutt. Ornithol. Club, vol. ii, No. 3, p. 80. July, 1877. 



